


The Ballad of Rose and Greg, Crystal Gems Edition

by dreadfulextravagance



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi, Young Gems
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-05-01 02:04:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5187986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreadfulextravagance/pseuds/dreadfulextravagance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something is about to change; Garnet can see it, Pearl can feel it, and Amethyst — well, Amethyst doesn't really care.  After over five millennia, things tend to fall into a routine. But something about Rose's new human has them all on edge; things are falling out of the routine, and the gems are falling apart.</p>
<p>A series of oneshots exploring the gems' unique relationships to one another, set in the moment when everything changes — the moment when Rose meets Greg.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Can Be Brash - Garnet & Amethyst, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst stumbles across Garnet when she least expects to.
> 
> (NSFW)

"Amethyst!" Garnet called from the rocky cliff face on the beach. She was resting against the rock formation, leaning back to look at the stars with her arms tucked casually behind her head. When Amethyst turned towards the call, Garnet beckoned to her with one hand, an easy devilish grin stretching across her face. Amethyst's face lit up with a grin to match, and she barreled towards Garnet as fast as her short legs would take her. Which was pretty fast, considering. 

With a great big leap, Amethyst landed smack on Garnet's lap, shouting a loud "woohoo!" as she flew through the air. 

"Hey, G!" She said after the sand had settled and Garnet had looked down at her from behind her shades. Amethyst was lying sideways across her lap, her hands behind her head, mimicking Garnet's position. Amethyst's expression was open and honest, eyes wide and grin even wider.  Garnet's mouth stretched into a smile to match, and she moved one of her hands from behind her head to gently slide over Amethyst's stomach.  It came to rest on the space where her form bulged out over the waistband of her illusionary pants, her large hand cupping the extra flesh that sat there. It was a familiar gesture — much like the domestic felines on this planet, Amethyst loved being cuddled and stroked, and had no reservations when it came to asking for it. This worked out well for Garnet, as she rarely initiated contact herself; still, she found Amethyst's physically affectionate manner comforting, somehow.

"What's up with you and Pearl, eh? Thought you'd be with her tonight. You guys still _doin'_ _it_?"  She waggled her eyebrows suggestively, adding unnessecary emphasis to her not-so-subtle innuendo.  Amethyst's open and honest face matched her open and honest — or rather, curious and blunt — attitude. 

Garnet sighed. She didn't feel like talking about it. 

"It's... complicated," she said reluctantly. 

"Oh-ho-ho-ho!!" Amethyst laughed gleefully, her legs kicking in her excitement at this apparently juicy bit of information. "That means a big  _N-O_ in plain English!"

"It is not an 'n-o' of any size. It's just, a not-at-the-moment." Why were they taking about this. 

"How come? Usually when Rose gets a new human, Pearl can't run to your room fast enough!" Amethyst giggled, but behind it Garnet could hear a hint of bitterness. 

What Amethyst said was true; over the last few thousand years, Pearl had found that the best way to cope with Rose's human preoccupations when they arose was to distract herself from them. Namely, with Garnet. It was an arrangement that worked out perfectly well for Garnet — she had no clue what Rose's original intentions for Pearl's purpose were when she'd had her made all those years ago back on Homeworld, but she suspected that Pearl's natural aptitude for — and secretly insatiable taste for — the physical had something to do with her design. And Garnet, being a punch-it-till-it's-fixed kind of gem, was always down for a different kind of physical outlet once and a while. Of course, in the first few months of Rose's human infatuations, when she would go missing from the Temple for days and weeks at a time enjoying her new toy, "once in a while" hardly covered it. Until Rose got over the honeymoon phase and rejoined the team — and found time for Pearl's needs — Garnet and Pearl found themselves fairly constantly occupied as well. This was also around the time when Amethyst made herself scarce and went out into the city to find herself new human friends to get in trouble with. It was a pattern of behavior they were all comfortable with, in its familiarity and predictability. And yet, here they were, sitting on the beach, Rose off with her new human and Pearl nowhere to be found, leaving Garnet at a bit of a loss over what to do. 

"Hmmm," was all Garnet said in response to Amethyst's statement. 

"Well, what gives? Where is she? _Ooooooh_ , did you do something  _bad_?"  Amethyst sounded a little too pleased at the thought. 

Garnet rolled her eyes. Amethyst was asking for details she knew she could never get out of Garnet — namely, what exactly they did for the weeks on end when Rose would disappear. Amethyst never took "I'm not telling you" or "nothing that I don't do with you, Amethyst" for an answer. She supposed that was because her physical relationship with Amethyst took a very different form — relatively short but fairly frequent, instead of weeks-long but rare. Amethyst was always jealously asking how they kept it up for so long — she didn't understand that it had everything to do with Pearl's outrageous programming rather than any prowess on Garnet's part. 

"This human's got Pearl on edge like I haven't seen in millennia," Garnet said finally. "She's probably off stalking them and making herself crazy over it."  It was driving Garnet crazy, too.  She hated it when Pearl got like that.  Garnet admitted to herself that understanding Pearl was difficult even on her best days; but when Pearl was absolutely consumed with obsession and jealousy over Rose, it grated on Garnet’s nerves.

Amethyst gave an uproarious laugh at the idea of Pearl watching Rose play with her human toy like the little voyer she was. It never ceased to make Amethyst chuckle when she thought about prim and proper Pearl doin' the nasty with the other gems. Pearl always had a stick so far up her ass Amethyst was surprised she made room for anything else down there, but apparently she managed it. Not that Amethyst would know. Pearl would never  _deign_  to do anything so  _vulgar_  with little ol' loud-mouthed Amethyst. Whatever. 

"You know I can’t answer that," Garnet said suddenly. Amethyst was confused for a moment, until she realized Garnet was doing that annoying thing where she answers a question Amethyst had hardly even formed it in her own head yet. Ugh, Amethyst hated future vision. 

"Ugh, Garnet. You can't even tell me  _if_  it'll ever happen?" They'd had this conversation before, but no matter how much Amethyst begged, she never told her anything juicy about her future vision.  Not even something so small like when Pearl would finally get over herself and just _do it_ _with her already_.

“You _know_ that the possibility of it happening is as high as it always has been, Amethyst. The rest is up to you. I can tell you now though, without any future vision, that she isn't ready for you.  And you're not ready for her."  Garnet's lips pursed together, and she moved her hand from Amethyst's tummy back to behind her own head.  Garnet was clearly done with this conversation, such as it was. 

"What the fuck is that even supposed to mean? You tellin' me she's into some kinky stuff?”

Garnet leaned her head back, refusing to answer Amethyst any further. Amethyst heaved a petulant sigh and loosened her muscles, flopping dramatically deeper into Garnet's lap. She decided to let the conversation go. She was bored of talking about Pearl anyway. It was a miracle Garnet was even here and, being the opportunist that she was, she was gonna make the most of it. 

Garnet didn’t react at all, frozen as she was staring silently up at the stars.  She did this a lot, just staring into space, and Amethyst knew that she was probably having a conversation in her head, or looking into the future. But that was boring and Amethyst wanted to be having a conversation too.  She shifted, turning in Garnet’s lap so that her back was to Garnet’s front.  When Amethyst leaned back and nuzzled into her chest, Garnet’s hands came down from behind her head to wrap around Amethyst’s waist. It seemed like an automatic reaction, but Amethyst knew it for the gesture of reconciliation that it was. Amethyst turned her head upside-down, looking up at Garnet’s chin with wide eyes, willing her to look down at her. 

Garnet glanced down at Amethyst with a smile. Amethyst was a lot of things, but luckily for her, damned _cute_ was one of them.  Garnet bent down and nuzzled her face in Amethyst’s short, messy hair, loving how its chaotic nature so easily reflected Amethyst’s unpredictable temperament. She lingered there, breathing against Amethyst’s scalp and basking in the peaceful moment between them.

Pearl wasn’t the only one on edge about this new human. Garnet couldn’t see many specifics, but she knew that everything was going to change soon; this human was shifting the status quo, taking them down paths Garnet hadn’t even thought to look down, thinking it was rather unlikely that their future could possibly look so different after 5 millennia of routine.  This was not the usual, inevitable, evolutionary changes Garnet usually detected, but rather an irreversible _something_ that would cause them all grief like they had never known, but also form a love deep down in their hearts so strong she couldn’t conceive it. Garnet was unsure that she could experience a love stronger or more important than the one she lived every day, or the love she had for the gems, but it seemed that this human was going to make it possible.  Possibly. It was all so distracting; the fact that Pearl was, at this moment, hiding behind a rock near the human’s dwelling trying to spy on Rose instead of in the temple with Garnet doing what they did best, was unnerving. But it was only a small drop in the deep and fast-flowing river of change that they were careening down this very moment. To say that Garnet was a little apprehensive would be an understatement.

She lifted her face and opened her eyes to Amethyst staring at her with her huge, round gaze and big lips quirked up into a playful smirk.  Garnet needed something to ground her in the present – she was getting lost, and the carefully hidden pleading look in Amethyst’s eyes told her that she had been miles away for a minute too long.  Garnet tightened her arms around Amethyst, slowly moving one of them upwards towards Amethyst’s gem, gently stroking it with calming little circles in apology. Amethyst relaxed as Garnet’s fingers traced the sharp facets of her gem, sinking her head and body deeper into Garnet’s torso and closing her eyes with a quiet hum, practically purring. _Apology accepted_.

They sat there for what felt to Amethyst like hours. The soothing rotations on her gem sent a liquid warmth slowly through her humanoid veins, loosening her muscles and turning her bones into jelly.  Amethyst, lost in the puddle of warmth that was her body, eventually dragged her heavy arms towards the hand still on her stomach and guided it towards her face.  She put Garnet’s right hand against her cheek, resting her head in the pillow of Garnet’s long, sinewy fingers.  Lazily, she turned her face into the gem embedded in her hand and gently placed a small kiss on each of the four facets.   _Sapphire’s gem_ , she thought to herself, not that it really mattered.  She always got the feeling that Sapphire didn’t like her as much, though, so maybe cuddling up to her would be a good idea.  A low rumble reverberated in Garnet’s chest, and Amethyst could feel it on the side of her face that was nuzzled into it.  Maybe it was a good idea after all. Amethyst continued to place tiny kisses on her gem, while Garnet hummed contentedly. 

Suddenly, strange choking sounds started emanating from Garnet's throat, as though she was trying to prevent something from bubbling out of her throat. It sounded almost like she was —

"Garnet, are you  _giggling_?"

Amethyst looked up at Garnet to find her lips pursed in an unreadable expression. Garnet coughed out a " _no,_ " her voice strained from the effort. 

Amethyst's eyes widened with a sudden realization. "Oh my  _god_ , are you  _ticklish_?"

Garnet coughed again. "No," she said with excessive firmness. "I am  _not_  ticklish." She pulled her hand out of Amethyst's grip, but Amethyst was quick to grab it back and start gently stroking the skin directly surrounding her gem. 

" _You_  might not be ticklish, Garnet," Amethyst said with a laugh, "but  _someone_  in there sure is!" With an evil cackle, Amethyst renewed her vigorous ministrations, kissing and caressing Garnet's sensitive gem while Garnet half-heartedly struggled, doing her best to hold back the laughter that was bubbling inexorably out of her nose.  Soon Garnet gave up the fight, letting her laughter free and filling Amethyst's ears with its ringing sound. Amethyst loved Garnet's laugh; it was rich and bright, and relatively rare, and it took up all of the space in Amethyst's body, sending her nerves tingling with excitement and pleasure.  Amethyst’s confidence surged and, spurred on by her awoken nerves, she began to lick Garnet’s gem with her tongue. Garnet’s loud laughter quickly halted with a sudden intake of breath as she felt the gentle and suggestive stimulation.

Amethyst was just smiling to herself about how she had Garnet completely in her power as she roved over the sharp edges of her gem when suddenly Garnet grabbed her by the shoulder with her left hand and flipped Amethyst over onto her back.  She hardly had time to register what had happened when Garnet pinned both of Amethyst’s hands down above her head, pushing them deep into the sand. Long, thick legs crouched on either side of Amethyst’s torso; her body hovering only a few, burning inches above Amethyst’s.

“I’m _not_ ticklish,” Garnet said, her voice taking on more gravity than usual, her stony face a little too exaggerated for Amethyst to begin worrying that she was in trouble.

Still holding Amethyst's hands in the sand, Garnet ducked her head down towards the pulsing gem on her chest. She began to lightly rove her tongue over Amethyst's gem, shallow breaths cooling the heat emanating from her body.  Amethyst squirmed in delight, the gentle strokes and tingling air sending her into a frenzy. In a rare moment of clarity, Amethyst suddenly realized that Garnet wasn't trying to _arouse_ her, but rather—

"GARNET! That  _tickles_!" Amethyst shouted in surprise. She began laughing uncontrollably — how did Garnet find all the sensitive corners of her gem? "Stop — aha, Garnet, no — oh my gahaha — sto, hahaha, STOP!"

Suddenly, Garnet stopped, looking up at Amethyst inquisitively.  

"Hey, why'd you stop?" Amethyst sounded indignant. 

Garnet gave Amethyst a sideways look. "Because you asked me to."

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "No, you dumbass, you're  _supposed_  to shout 'stop' when you're being tickled to within an inch of your life. You're not actually supposed to  _stop_." 

Garnet frowned thoughtfully, and gave a quiet hum. She stayed there, propped over Amethyst, for a long minute before suddenly bending down again and renewing her ministrations to Amethyst's gem. 

They fought for a while, Amethyst struggling to get out of Garnet's grip, trying to reach for her right-handed gem in revenge, while Garnet mercilessly tickled her until her laughs grew tired. Soon, Garnet's mouth went harder, pushing and stroking with more purpose, and Amethyst's laughter trickled into quiet, breathy moans. 

"Haha Garn--  _oh_ , haha, hmm,  _mmm_..."

Garnet looked up, an amused smile on her otherwise unreadable face. She bent forward, leaning her torso across Amethyst's, and gave her a long, deep kiss, pulling Amethyst's fat upper lip into her own with her tongue, sucking gently. 

Everything was always so comfortable with Amethyst, so easy. There was hardly ever a difference between fighting and playing, joking and mocking, talking and kissing. It was all the same to Amethyst, and Garnet found that her down-for-anything attitude matched up oddly and wonderfully with her own. 

They stayed that way, kissing easily and casually, never straying far considering Garnet's hands still pinned Amethyst to the ground. Amethyst tended to get worked up pretty quickly, though, and was soon arching her back in an attempt to draw Garnet in closer. 

Garnet smiled, loosening her grip ever so slightly, and was immediately slammed onto her back by the suddenly _very_ alert Amethyst. 

Amethyst cackled. " _Hehe_ , I've been waiting for you to take down your guard!" She was straddling Garnet's stomach between her stocky legs, subtly rocking her hips back and fourth over her abdomen. Amethyst lazily took hold of one of Garnet's hands, tugging it towards the area between her legs where Amethyst kept her favorite sensitive nerves, her face soundlessly begging for compliance.  At Garnet’s slow understanding smile, Amethyst wordlessly guided Garnet's hand, helping her press down onto her core over her baggy pants. Amethyst bit her lip, giving a small hum of approval in the back of her throat, smiling wickedly down at her friend. Garnet moved her hand up and under the waistband of her pants, gently pushing against the wet folds that hid the delightful nerve bundles inside Amethyst. 

She moved her long fingers slowly in a circle over her skin, pushing and pressing and rubbing with increasing speed. Amethyst kept up her gentle hip movements, becoming more frantic as Garnet pressed down harder. Amethyst's moans grew louder and louder, reaching out from her throat and opening her mouth with their intensity. Garnet's mind was filled with the liquid honey of Amethyst's voice. 

Finally, with several loud and violent grunts accompanied by an intense squeezing of her thighs around Garnet's hand and abdomen, Amethyst fell forward, bracing herself with her hands on Garnet's chest, eyes closed and breath heaving with exhaustion. 

"Uhn, Garnet,  _yum_."

Garnet laughed easily, loving the sound of Amethyst's loose and liquidy voice. Amethyst smiled in response, loving the sound of Garnet's laugh just as much. She collapsed onto Garnet's chest, a fit of giggles overtaking her, bubbling tiredly out of her throat. Lying her head onto Garnet's chest, she gave a sated hum as she nuzzled in, dozing off almost instantly. 

Garnet reached up and gently stroked Amethyst's hair in a familiar gesture of affection. Sighing contentedly, she turned her attention once again to the stars.

Things were certainly about to change, Garnet thought to herself.  But perhaps some things, like Amethyst’s short, soft hair, and Garnet’s rough and easy affection — perhaps some things didn’t have to change.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like all the gems - especially Garnet - were very different before Rose left. I wanted to quickly write something to explore that character shift (and write a little gamethyst smut because really, who doesn't need more gamethyst smut), but then it got really out of hand — I have about five chapters for this started already, all with different combinations of characters, all exploring the ways they related to each other at this crucial turning point in time. Maybe I will ever get around to finishing any one chapter (in some kind of chronological order, hopefully?).


	2. Calm Down - Pearl & Garnet, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet finds Pearl.

"Garnet!" 

Garnet stopped in her tracks at the sound of her name. She was just headed out for a solitary walk on the beach, but the desperate cry of her name coming from behind a rock near the warp pad clearly had other plans for her evening. She looked around, trying to find Pearl, but apparently she was hiding somewhere. That's when she saw a slender white hand gesticulating wildly from inside a crook in the cave, and reluctantly Garnet answered the beckon. 

When she rounded the corner, she found Pearl hunched up in the far corner of the nook, arms clenched tightly around her stomach. Everything about her radiated tension, and she looked as though she was about to throw up. She peered up at Garnet with desperate eyes, reaching out and clinging to Garnet's arms the moment she registered her presence. 

"Garnet, thank goodness," she breathed, clenching tightly onto Garnet's slim but sturdy arms. "I —“ she didn't seem to be able to find the right words for why she was so glad to have found Garnet, but Garnet didn't need words to see what Pearl was in desperate need of. 

"Please, Garnet, it's been four weeks since Rose has even spoken to me, and this -- this  _human_ , he's — oh I don't know what it is, but there's something about him that's got Rose all — oh, I don't know, Garnet. I'm — _I'm_   _scared_." She trailed off into an anxious whisper, gripping Garnet even harder. Garnet had always felt pity for poor Pearl, constantly struggling to fight against her own nature, and Rose didn't make it easy for her. Pearl gave her  _everything_  to those she loved, as Garnet well knew, but Rose was a much more reserved gem, giving what she could get away with and not much more. That wasn't strictly true in Pearl's case — in all the millennia Garnet has known Rose, she has never seen her love another as completely as she loves her Pearl, but this human was the first thing to come along that has come anywhere close to matching their closeness. It didn't necessarily pose a threat to the boundless love Rose has for Pearl — Rose's capacity for love was infinite — but that didn’t change the fact that another creature might hold as large a space in Rose's infinitely large heart as Pearl did. And Pearl felt distinctly threatened by the thought. Understandably. 

Unfortunately, Garnet didn’t have the best reputation for her bedside manner, so she took hold of Pearl's arms with her own and pulled her in for a hug. She couldn’t punch this problem away, but hugging it is the next best solution, she figured, short of calming and reassuring Pearl with words and a modicum of emotional connection. Emotional connection, she thought dryly to herself, is something she and Pearl have never had an abundance of in their relationship. Personality-wise they simply didn’t have a lot in common besides their physical understanding of each other. Which worked out fine… usually. But Pearl tended to need more than just physical fulfillment, and that's never really been Garnet's specialty. The kind of constant display of affection and open communication that Pearl needed wasn’t something that she felt like she could provide, given the stilted and awkward ways in which their personalities clashed.

Not that Garnet's ever really found the time to  _try_  to connect with Pearl's feelings; at the end of the day, for some reason Garnet has yet to discover, her and Pearl's physical magnetism was pretty powerful and all-consuming in a way that didn’t really leave time for things like talking and connecting. Which Garnet has always figured was probably for the better. 

She hadn't seen Pearl this upset over Rose since the very early days, during the long and drawn-out transition period from Homeworld to Earth. Since then, Pearl had come into her own, becoming more confident and self-sufficient; immersing herself in human studies, learning about their engineering and mathematics and mastering complex human sword fighting techniques. This is the Pearl she finally became close to — not the clinging, anxious, uncertain Pearl that was holding on to Garnet as though she was her last handle on reality. 

Garnet leaned down and nuzzled her face into Pearl's hair, trying to give her some comfort in her presence. Pearl relaxed slightly, melting into Garnet strong arms. Garnet began breathing deeply and deliberately, trying to get Pearl's heart rate to slow down. They stood there in the cave, breathing deeply and slowly relaxing into each other's arms, for a long time. Pearl eventually slid her arms around Garnet's waist, easing into her abdomen.

Pearl sighed. This was as close to peace as she had been able to find these past months, and she didn’t know how to find it again when morning came.  But for now, she didn’t need much more than this, and together, unmoving, she and Garnet made it through the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one, but don't worry, I am far from finished with Pearl & Garnet. We have at least one sex scene and one really, really angsty scene to go before this is all over.


	3. I Was Everything - Pearl & Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After months of avoiding her, Pearl finally shares a moment with Rose.

It was very dark on the beach; Pearl could see more stars than usual tonight. She sighed. Even after 6,000 years, she still missed being among those stars. They were beautiful. Beautiful, and so far away. 

Rose and Greg were finally asleep, after a disgustingly long physical human ritual of thrusting and nudity. Pearl detested it. 

So, why was she hiding behind a rock watching the whole horrible debacle? If Pearl knew the answer to that, it would solve a lot of her problems. 

She sighed, (she seemed to be doing a lot of that lately), her back to the large rock, and sank down into the sand, dropping her head into her hands. She felt utterly exhausted from being so constantly on edge about the human. It really wasn't different from Rose's other humans. It really shouldn't be bothering her so much. And yet, some part of her felt like she was on the verge of losing something… and not just something, but the very something that was the reason for her existence, her meaning in life, her purpose on this Earth. For some reason, her grip on Rose felt much more tenuous than it ever had before. 

Suddenly, she felt a large, soft hand come down to rest gently on the top of her downturned head. She looked up, eyes wide and watery, to find her gaze filled with pink curls and peach skin and dark glittering eyes. Despite everything, her small, squeezing heart inflated once again, and Pearl took an easy breath for the first time in months, filling her superfluous lungs and expanding her caved-in chest. With those shining pink lips breaking into a gorgeous smile for her, nothing could possibly be wrong. 

Pearl's smile split wide open, knowing she looked half-drunk and ridiculous, but not much caring. 

"Rose," she breathed with her newfound breath. It was a sigh of relief and contentment. 

Rose's grin grew wider, and she let out a small laugh. "Pearl." She moved her hand down to Pearl's face, cupping one side of her entire head in her large hand. "Come, Pearl, let's walk."

Rose bent down to offer a hand to Pearl, who took it and rose gracefully to her feet.  The moment she was standing, Pearl wrapped both of her arms around one of Rose’s, holding it close to her like a lifeline and nuzzling into it with her face. She took another deep breath, smelling Rose’s distinct scent of soil and the fruity human shampoo she favored. It was like a drug to Pearl, soothing her nerves and filling her with a cool calmness.

Rose gave a quiet hum at the contact, moving her other hand around the back of her head, holding her close, and bending her head down to nuzzle the top of Pearl’s head.  They stood like this for a minute, taking stock of each other’s smell and presence, filling their hearts with sorely-missed warmth that only the other could give.

Eventually Rose began to walk down the beach, taking Pearl — still clinging to her arm — with her towards the Temple.

Pearl thought they were headed into Rose’s room until she stopped on the warp pad in front of the door.  Rose looked down at Pearl, an unspoken question in her eyes, and Pearl nodded, trusting Rose’s plans.  Pearl closed her eyes and leaned into Rose as she felt the warp pad activate, and they were sent through warp space to wherever she was taking them.

When Pearl opened her eyes, she found that she knew the place very well.  The warp pad was located on top of a large, grassy hill, right at the spot where one could look around and see rolling green hills for miles and miles on all sides. Two miles away, Pearl knew, behind four tall stone walls and through an ornate iron gate, sat a beautiful flower garden overflowing with flora of all kinds.  Stringy willow trees towered above vine-covered walls; squat, waxy bushes bursting with pink rhododendrons surrounded flagstone pathways, dotted with tiny floral mosaics; walls of bright yellow forsythia and large bushes dripping with purple and white lilacs surrounded the inside of the garden. Most notable, and most predictable, however, were the hundreds of roses — crawling up the stone walls, growing in bushes between the benches and the floral arches creating tunnels of vines, and weaving through the iron gate that marked the entrance. Beautifully cut topiaries popped up here and there, all of them taking the shape of tall, slender, featureless humans in gorgeous, hardly believable acrobatic poses. Pearl knows of this place, for it’s their garden — her and Rose’s.  They built it together, oh, some three thousand years ago, and every once in a while they would come together to maintain it. They spent many peaceful hours pruning rose bushes and trimming topiaries together, or just sitting on the benches wrapped up in each other’s closeness, marveling at the flora and fauna surrounding them. 

Rose had many gardens all across the Earth, but no two were quite the same.  This particular garden held hints of Pearl’s personal talents; the topiaries, the mosaics, the iron gate, the stone wall – all of these were cut, set, forged, and plastered by her own hand.  Their skills, when combined, truly created a place of beauty.

They began their leisurely and familiar hike to the garden.  Their embrace loosened to make way to simple hand holding, Pearl’s long, slender fingers sliding in perfectly in Rose’s stocky hands.  It was a silent walk, the two of them simply sharing in the comfort of each other’s presence.

They walked through the two-story-high wrought iron gate and made for their favorite tree — a small cherry blossom, sitting alone on a little green hillock, always in full bloom.

Pearl was in awe; she hadn’t been to the garden in far too long, and she had assumed that Rose had neglected it in favor of Greg’s presence as well.  But the flowers were in top shape; the topiaries perfectly trimmed, the flagstones weed-free, and the soil looked freshly watered.  How had all of this happened in their absence?

“Rose, it’s _beautiful_. I haven’t been here in so long, how —“

“I have,” Rose said quietly.  “I’ve come here almost every day to tend to the flowers.”

Pearl hesitated. “I — I thought — I had assumed, what with the hu—Greg, and all, that we —“ Pearl stammered to a halt, not really finding the words to explain what she had felt earlier was so clearly the cause of the rift in their relationship.

“I haven’t been able to find you, these past few months,” Rose said.  “Not even Garnet knew where you where, when I would come looking for you.”

“I didn’t — I didn’t know you were looking for me,” Pearl said uncertainly.

“I know.”  Rose sounded sad; although her words blamed Pearl for her absence, her tone betrayed the guilt she felt for her own negligence.  She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, before saying, “I won’t pretend that you’re wrong, Pearl.”

“I — wha?” This conversation was giving Pearl whiplash. She felt as though Rose was two steps ahead of her the whole time.

Rose laughed quietly to herself.  “You’re not wrong.  This time is different from the other humans.  It’s been almost a century since I’ve spent any significant time with a human, and Greg — well, Greg’s different.” She sighed.  “I’ve learned so much, Pearl.  So much about how humans love. Greg has showed me more about the depths and complexities of human love than I ever knew I didn’t know.”

Pearl wasn’t really sure why they were talking about this; she didn’t really feel like talking about Greg.  But she wasn’t about to stop Rose in the middle of an explanation about how Pearl right.  Or, wasn’t wrong, rather.

“But Pearl,” Rose turned to her with a fiery look behind her dark eyes, “everything I’ve learned about how gems love, I’ve learned from _you_.  You, out of anyone in the cosmos, knows the infinite capacity in my heart for love, since you always have been a permanent tenant there.  You need never fear that Greg – or any human – could possibly replace you in my heart.”

Pearl’s eyes began to shine with tears, feeling her heart breaking with every word Rose said.  “I’ve never been worried about being replaced.” She took a deep breath. It was hard, admitting your own insecurities to the one upon whom your entire self-worth once depended. “I’m not worried about being replaced.  I’m worried that you’ve finally found someone — a _human —_ who might take up as much space as me in your heart.  I’m not afraid of being replaced — I’m afraid of losing first place.”

Rose was quiet for a long time after that, her wide eyes staring at Pearl.  Finally, she took a deep breath, reached over to touch Pearl’s face and said, “Pearl. My Pearl.  The _kind_ of love I feel for Greg, it’s — it’s _different_.  Not better, or worse, or bigger, or smaller.  Just, different.  It’s the love a gem feels for a human — no the love a gem feels for another gem, who she has loved for ten millennia, unconditionally.”

Rose stroked Pearl's face carefully with her thumb, moving up and down her long jaw line, smiling sadly. Pearl leaned into the touch, turning her face into Rose's palm and kissing it lightly. Pearl didn't know how to feel about what Rose just said; she understood, perhaps better than anyone, the extent and power of Rose's love for others. But the anxiety she felt about Rose felt like it extended beyond a fear of competition; for some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that this human was going to take Rose away from her. She couldn't explain it, but it made her want to cling harder to the moments she still had left with Rose. She saw now that avoiding her was definitely not the best way to do that. 

So she put her hand over Rose's, closing her eyes and pressing her lips again into her palm.  Pearl turned her face back to look at her, and then, slowly and deliberately, leaned in towards Rose's lips. Rose used her hand to guide Pearl's head towards her faster, desperately pressing their lips together for the first time in a very long time. Pearl gave a small squeak of surprise, and then closed her eyes again and let the feeling of Rose's mouth take over. 

They sat there for a while, gently kissing each other, caressing each other's faces and running their hands though the other's hair. Neither of them wanted this moment to end; the cherry blossoms rained down on their heads, the light pink flowers blending in perfectly with Rose's hair; the moon cast a pale blue light, turning Pearl's skin from shimmering white to a glowing silver. This kiss, their love, the garden; everything in this moment was beautiful. 

Eventually, Rose broke away, pulling Pearl's head downwards to kiss her gently on the gem. She sat there for a minute, breathing deeply, soaking in the feeling of her beautiful Pearl, the smoothness of it, the power and energy pulsing within it.

Pearl grinned, and quietly giggled to herself. In this moment, with Rose holding her close and the garden surrounding her with their shared beauty, she was happy, and completely at peace. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't decided if this fits in chronologically with other chapters I have partially written out - so, be warned, this fic might end up jumping around in time depending on what inspiration hits me when. Next up - a much anticipated pearlnet smut scene. Maybe.


	4. Stars and Stardust and Infinite Space — Amethyst & Vidalia & Greg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg goes stargazing with his friends.

A cacophony of cackling rang out over the ocean, a boisterous and raspy voice mixing seamlessly with the smoother and higher notes of its partner, screaming together in delight at their own crude humor.

Greg rolled his eyes at the noise, being used to it by now but still feeling as though it was his duty to denounce the joke for its vulgarity. Someone had to have an ounce of decency in this van.

He was lying on the roof, parked as he usually was these days on the edge of the hidden beach behind the gems' fence, idly plucking out chords while staring off into the stars. Accompanying him, for better or worse, was Amethyst and Vidalia, cuddled up on the hood of the van, rolling around in mirth in response to their latest absurd joke that Greg simply couldn't muster the energy to find funny.

"Why is everything you play always so _maudlin_?" Vidalia had evidently found time in her giggling fit to rib Greg for his idle chord-plucking.

"Some of us live to love, Vidalia. I wouldn't expect you to understand," Greg said, smiling into the stars.

Amethyst's cackling was renewed with vigor at this dig, but Vidalia was quick in her response. "Oh I know how to _love_ alright, Gregory. But I wouldn't expect _you_ to understand that." She winked at Amethyst, which set the gem off even more boisterously than before, despite the comeback not being particularly clever or original. Once you get in the giggles, even the most poorly worded innuendo was the funniest thing you'd ever heard. Greg rolled his eyes again, but there was no malice in the gesture. Just affectionate derision.

Amethyst managed to squeak out between laughing fits, "oh, I don't know Vid, our Rose is fucking _crazy_. I figure if he can keep up with her, he's gotta be hiding a wild side under that vanilla exterior!" Vidalia screamed in hilarity; whether it was at the thought of Greg going wild or the sheer joy in hearing anything about his and Rose's sex life, Greg would never know. He privately chuckled to himself, not wanting to confirm or deny the accusation; over-sharing was simply not his style. But Amethyst was certainly not wrong. Rose was _nuts_. Greg closed his eyes and sighed quietly in contentment as memories oozed their way into his mind and numbed his face in the way that thinking of Rose always did.

"Oh my _god_ Amethyst, how do you even _know_ that?" Vidalia was still scream-laughing in delight at the deliciously dirty details.

Amethyst glanced slyly at Vidalia, winking as she said, "Oh wouldn't _you_ like to know?"

Vidalia practically choked. " _Amethyst_!" She was still laughing hysterically, but it was now mixed with a touch of horror. "Isn't she like, your _mom_?"

Amethyst snorted. "Gems don't have _moms_! You're just jealous that you haven't gotten a piece of Rose yourself!"

Vidalia blushed deeply, smacking Amethyst in the arm. "Oh my god Amethyst, stop! You're disgusting!" She suddenly paused in her laughter, getting serious. She said in a dramatic whisper, "Wait though. Have you really, like, _done it_ with Rose?"

Amethyst laughed so hard at this that tears began to roll down her cheeks. Greg chuckled, too. Admittedly, there weren't a lot of people Rose hadn't had sex with yet, but Amethyst had somehow managed to keep out of Rose's pants over the last several thousand years. Greg figured it was a good thing; probably the only person crazier than Rose was Amethyst, and the two of them together would be too much for this small planet to handle. And despite what Amethyst said, she _did_ look up to Rose in a way that Rose didn't find sexually appealing so much as endearing, like a kitten.

A filthy-minded, uncontrollable kitten that had no boundaries and ate everything in sight.

Not really Rose's style.

Amethyst was giggling through her nose in an attempt to suppress her laughter long enough to answer. "Nah, me and Rose don't roll like that. But what do you care where I've been? You gettin jealous?"

Vidalia let out a loud "Ha! Like I'd care who's tapped your scrawny ass!"

"Listen babe, I'm the one who does the tappin around here! Don't act like you don't like my ass, at least it's better than Farty Marty's wrinkly old dong!"

"Eugh! Don't remind me about that thing! I don’t wanna think about it!" Vidalia's laughter grew strained as she weakly smacked Amethyst in the arm again.

"As if you wouldn't jump him the moment he showed his nasty face around here." Amethyst was starting to dig a little too close to Vidalia's nerves, but she was far too stuck in her own head to see how Vidalia's laughter was losing its vigor, and her face began to draw in stress.

"Whatever Amethyst, at least I never thought about fucking my own _mom_ ," she said half-heartedly. Greg felt for her. She might pretend to be blasé about Marty, but a part of her couldn't seem to let him go. Vidalia looked around for an escape.

"C'mon, Amethyst, let's go drink a bottle of vodka and watch raunchy movies back at my place!"

"Hell yeah! Can we watch that one with the pirates? I love me some well placed ocean-themed innuendos!"

Vidalia pushed out a laugh, mumbling something that sounded like, "oh my god Ame, you've seen that one like ten times."

Amethyst whooped as she leapt off the hood of the van, already booking it across the beach towards the hole in the fence Greg had made months ago.

Vidalia turned back to Greg. "You wanna join?"

Greg gave a derisive laugh. That sounded like the worst way to spend a night — Vidalia and Amethyst could get _really_ crazy. "Nah, you kids have fun!" He let out a small, self-deprecating chuckle. He sounded like his grandfather, but what the hell. With any luck, Rose would show up and they could have a crazy party of their own.

Vidalia turned with a casual wave of her hand. "Whatever grandpa. Catch ya later." She ran after Amethyst, who was impatiently shouting at her from across the beach, and Greg's two craziest friends disappeared through the gate and into the town.

_Craziest friends_ , he thought to himself. What the hell was he talking about? They were his _only_ friends.

He heaved a heavy sigh. Brooding thoughts about his rash decision to stay in this town and the persistent loneliness it left him with began creeping into his mind. Sometimes he felt like a human alone in a world full of space aliens.

_Well_ , he thought, _and that’s just what you are._

He stared up at the stars, contemplating his own smallness, until he heard the tell-tale _woosh_ of the warp pad activating and was pulled out of his increasingly melancholy reverie. He shook his head, rallying at the thought of being in the company of Rose, perking up as he remembered the reasons he made these decisions in the first place.

_Yeesh_ , Vidalia was right; maybe he should cut down on the depressing tunes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what do you mean it's been several months since i updated i don't understand
> 
> ok i know a different scene was promised but that pearlnet scene is giving me trouble i'm just not good at writing angst i'm sorry   
> but on the bright side i have like, almost three more chapters written up so if i ever get around to finishing those? maybe? there'll be more soon?
> 
> i'm also feeling inspired to write some smuttier amethyst/vidalia so ... no promises but maybe


	5. Shhh - Pearl & Garnet, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet asks no questions, Pearl gets no answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> implied nsfw

There was always a lot going on inside Garnet’s head. She had to be on the constant look out for corrupted gems, and keep close tabs on her friends when they weren’t around; add that to the daily comings and goings that kept the rest of her future vision occupied, and that would be enough to fill anyone’s head. Even after 5,000 some-odd years of knowing each other, however, Ruby, Sapphire, and herself always had something to say about everything that was happening. Although they’d all gotten this coordinating and co-decision making down to a science, there was still plenty of room for idle discussion and reflection. Garnet positively loved the time alone they all got together, but — well, sometimes she wished she had more time to herself, when everyone was not only quiet but truly faded into the background. Once in a while, she just needed some peace and quiet.

That usually only happened in emergency situations, where instant action was needed — where her physical body took over and “fight-or-flight” instincts (as the humans call it) kicked in. Or, it happened after times like these. Times when her mind was consumed with the feeling of her artificial blood pumping rapidly through her artificial veins, carrying artificial hormones from her stimulated artificial nerves to her artificial receptors in her artificial brain, creating the incredible, entirely human-constructed abstract concept of pleasure, which numbed her mind and the clamoring voices inside.

Yes, this was all hers, and ever since Garnet had figured out all the parts necessary for the enjoyment of this sensation, she had lived for these moments.

The sound of rushing water filled Garnet's ears, seeping into the corners of her mind, mixing with the slowly receding tide of endorphins that were making her languid and lazy. In a haze, she drew her arms around the naked gem on top of her, who was resting with her head nestled in Garnet’s chest. They were in Pearl's room, lying on a small, rocky, cave-like island tucked in a far corner of the temple next to her cascading fountains.

Of course, when Pearl was involved, the silent and calm inside her mind very rarely lasted beyond five minutes.

“Humans are recording their music on reflective plastic discs cut with a small and precise laser now. They call them ‘CD’s,’ which is short for ‘compact disc.’”

Garnet hummed in acknowledgement of the statement, unwilling to encourage her chatter but unable to ignore it. Pearl made a habit of keeping up with humans’ more useful engineering pursuits, and Garnet didn’t need future vision to know that Pearl was not quite done explaining.

“I hadn’t realized that humans had moved on from cassette tapes, but this method of storing data is much more efficient! Not to mention CDs come much closer to the purity of sound that vinyl records were capable of producing. In fact, they have all of the benefits of records without any of the hassle it took to retrieve sound from them; CDs can be played with a compact disc player, which reads the CD more precisely with laser technology. It takes up one fifth of the space record players required.”

Pearl paused in her lecture for a moment, and Garnet took the opportunity to cut to the real purpose of this conversation. Pointless drivel bothered her, especially when she knew that Pearl was trying to talk about something else entirely. “You’ve been spending time with Greg and Rose.”

Pearl abruptly lifted her torso up by her arms, looking at Garnet with surprise. “Well… y-yes, I have spent some time with Greg and Rose, but only because Greg deliberately sought me out. Rose insisted, so obviously I couldn’t refuse.”

Garnet gave a low hum in response, waiting for Pearl to finish what she really wanted to say. It didn’t take long.

“Everything is fine, though! Greg is just another distraction, just like all the others. I’ve studied his character thoroughly and come to the conclusion that all of my suspicions are entirely unfounded, and there is absolutely nothing about this human that diverges from the norm. Rose couldn’t possibly be more drawn to him than she is any other human on this planet, and therefore he poses no threat to my — I—I mean, our team.” Pearl ended her speech with a blush, closing her eyes and laying her head back down onto Garnet’s chest.

Garnet hummed once again, refusing to confirm or deny anything Pearl felt she had to say to make herself feel better. It was Pearl’s prerogative if she wanted to lure herself into a false sense of security, but Garnet was not going to participate in the farce.

Distractedly, Pearl began to draw little circles around Garnet’s collarbone, making Garnet’s skin prickle with the sudden softness of the gesture. She could feel short hair brush against her chest as Pearl heaved a huge sigh. Garnet couldn’t help but roll her eyes behind her shades; Pearl’s dramatics were excessive.

"It is, isn't it?" Pearl was quiet, her voice shaky. She was staring up at Garnet through her lanky hair with wide, apprehensive eyes. "Going to be okay? Will — will we be okay?"

Garnet thought for a long time, looking beyond the moment of change, beyond the years after; much further in the future than she had dared look before. Trying to find the moment, if there was one, when they would be okay. She kept looking until she found it — finally, so many years away, so close yet so far. The scene was dark in its lack of detail; many of the beings in this scene were completely blurred out, their shapes and personalities entirely unpredictable this far in the future. But the gems showed clearly, if slightly altered. That is, all the gems besides Rose. She was missing entirely. No one was speaking; Garnet was able to sharpen her future vision in such a way that instead of seeing all the tens of thousands of potential futures in which the dialogue changes infinitesimally, she could focus instead on the people present and the emotional timbre of the scene. As she began to hone in on the atmosphere of the gems in her vision, she was suddenly flooded with a rush of feeling, unbelievably strong and yet undeniable — a feeling of unconditional love. The kind of love none of the gems had ever experienced since their time on Earth. It was at this moment in time when the futures beyond began to feel lighter, more positive; still very, very different from the emotional atmosphere of the gems at their current moment in time, still tinged with a sadness Garnet hardly wanted to explore, but undeniably more positive than all of the futures after the change. At this moment, Garnet decided, they would begin to be okay again.

This was, of course, taking into account Rose's decisions — "the change," as Garnet was beginning to call it in her head, was really a massive fork in the road. Two possibilities shared increasingly equal likelihood — and one of them, the one she had just been exploring, had been growing subtly every day, gaining likelihood the closer Rose became to Greg. This choice, which diverged so radically from any future they had yet experienced since the rebellion, was still less likely than the choice that would keep the rivers in time flowing straight and true beyond the horizon.

It was Pearl's apprehension, however, that made Garnet look down that path, even if it was less likely. Because Pearl had a connection to Rose that Garnet simply couldn't access; and if she said Rose was going away, then there was nothing that Garnet's future vision could tell her about likelihoods and probability that Garnet would hold above that kind of assertion.

 _Answer Pearl's question._ Right. Garnet grumbled to herself, all hope of alone time disappearing as the gears in her mind turned and the engines behind them awoke from their post-coital stupor.

“Yes,” Garnet said after a moment. “We will be okay.” With matters like these, she gave information to Pearl on a need-to-know basis.

Pearl was quiet, still staring intently into Garnet’s visor. Several minutes passed like this; silent, contemplative. Then Pearl sighed, and dropped her head back down onto Garnet’s chest. She nodded sadly, choosing to believe Garnet’s assertion, resigned to the understanding that it meant nothing, and hardly answered the questions she was really asking.

From here on out, there were no real answers. Thing were changing, and Garnet doubted even Rose knew what was coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been agonizing over this one for like, six months so i decided to post it because i like what i've done so far and i can't figure out how to do more and it's time to MOVE ON for god's sake. thanks for reading y'all are so sweet and the best <3


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